SlytherPuff
by thefloatingllama
Summary: Original Characters against JK Rowling's Hogwarts Backdrop. I own nothing. Slytherin and Hufflepuff students become close.
1. Hufflepuff

GRANGER: Year One

"Granger Arlo Jenkins," the voice called out across the Great Hall. I jumped at the sound of my name and pushed to the front of the group. A woman, Headmaster McGonagall, was lifting the talking hat up for me to sit under. She sat it down on my head and after what felt like an eternity I heard it move, mumbling to itself. "Both parents Ravenclaw, and both siblings, too. But does Ravenclaw choose you?"

_Yes_, I thought. _That is where I am supposed to be._

"You might make a good Ravenclaw. You have a lot to learn; that is for sure." The hat harrumphed, nearly slipping off my head. "Perhaps a decent Slytherin, I sense eagerness and successfulness. But you would make an even better Hufflepuff, and Hufflepuff will make an even better you."

_No, no, no. I'm supposed to be Ravenclaw. I'm supposed to tell my parents about the first riddle I solve to get into the dorms. I'm supposed to learn how to levitate all of my textbooks to and from class and ace my exams. _I wished really hard for the hat to reconsider, to put me where I needed to be.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat cried out in a deafening yell. Apparently wishing wasn't getting me anywhere.

There were cheers coming from the far table as I numbly moved away from the Ravenclaw table and the people that should have been my house. There were no second chances at this, no appeals process, no way of changing. Had I been a believer in fate, like the common Hufflepuff, I would have embraced my new life. But I didn't believe in fate. Yet.


	2. Slytherin

SIRENA: Year Two

I watched from my place at the Slytherin table as the incoming students were sorted. It felt like so long ago that I had been sorted, but it was only last year. It was surprising how good some of us were at guessing the houses. We had even decided to capitalize on it by placing bets this year. So far, I had guessed all of them correctly, a streak unheard of in our short gambling history.

The sorting hat called out a name that had become common over the last years: "Granger." Everyone and their dogs were naming their magical children after the Heroes of Hogwarts, all of which were Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Nothing a Slytherin could do to earn favor in the sight of the wizarding community.

The boy was small for his age, dark skinned with a strange haircut. He must have been a second-generation wizard; his name suggested familiarity with the wizarding world, but his style suggested a muggle-influenced upbringing.

"Ravenclaw," Kyron guessed. "All Grangers go to Ravenclaw; Hermione was a straight up book nerd." He placed three chocolate frogs in the center of the table.

"I'll bet Gryffindor, since she actually was one," Pisces countered, placing two boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

"Hufflepuff." I placed 3 pastries on the pile, betting the best of my stash. I was playing devil's advocate of course, but I had a way with these things.

At my sorting, the hat had barely touched my hair and it had shouted 'Slytherin.' I had expected everyone's sorting to be similar. This year, the hat was taking it's sweet time though.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled across the Great Hall, causing a commotion at the Hufflepuff table. The boy looked lost, in a daze, as he walked towards the loud group; he clearly didn't expect to be sorted into that house. There was something about him, though, that made me think he would fit just fine.

"Looks like I win again," I laughed to my friends.

"I don't know how you do it, Si." Kyron shook his head, and looked longingly at the chocolate frogs he had just lost.


	3. Hufflepuff Friends

GRANGER

"Alright, first year Hufflepuffs! I hope your first week at Hogwarts has been as exciting and welcoming as possible." The Hufflepuff prefect was talking to all the first years gathered in the common room. "We always want to remind you that upper classmen are great to talk to about any struggles or questions you might have, just be courteous of their study schedules. Older students have the OWLs and the NEWTs to study for later in the year and will be working hard to get good grades."

"I can't wait for the big exams, I want to know what I will be good at already." Henrich Sanders and I had bonded over our similar situations; he was a Ravenclaw legacy sorted into Hufflepuff. His house heritage stretched back five generations, though, so he still hadn't written home to tell his family. I told him about how my family wasn't upset, just a little confused, but he was still worried.

A tan skinned girl piped up from the other side of Sanders, "No way. I want to explore my options, try as many things as I can while there aren't as many consequences." She looked at us like we were all old friends and I immediately understood how she was sorted into Hufflepuff. "My name is Lanie Fortuna. I'm the first of my family to come to Hogwarts, so I am just taking everything in. What are your names?"

"Granger Jenkins," I said as I reached out for a handshake. "This is my friend, Henrich Sanders."

Sanders managed a soft "hello" in her general direction.

Lanie chuckled and gave Sanders a small smile. "Nice to meet you. I think this is the beginning of a great friendship!"


	4. Slytherins Running Late

SIRENA: Year Three

"Si, we are going to be late for class." Pisces was leaning against the doorway to our room, picking at her fingernails. She didn't actually care about being on time for class, but she was usually the one running behind and was impatiently complaining about the roles being reversed.

I was rifling through the ebony wardrobe; I couldn't find my textbook anywhere. "The stupid thing must have crawled away again. Can I just share with you today? I'm sure it will turn up once I don't need it anymore."

"Fine," Pisces smirked. "But you get to do all the work. Let's go. We were supposed to meet Ky by the front door."

We rushed to the common room, narrowly avoiding a collision with some upperclassmen trying to charm their quills to remember the answers to their first exam. We pushed through the secret entrance and I noticed the charmed doorway change from the intricately carved wood to the dungeon-like illusion meant to keep other houses away.

"Ready?" Ky called from a couple meters away. And we started toward the Forbidden Forest.


	5. Hufflepuffs Running Late

GRANGER: Year Two

Lanie came running into the common room, soaking wet and out of breath. "That. Was. Awesome!" She practically squealed on the last syllable and then proceeded to plop onto the sofa next to Sanders.

He scooted away from her to avoid getting wet, and just in time as she started to ring out her dark hair.

"I take it tryouts went well?" I knew she would do great; she was the best flyer in our class.

Lanie's eyes lit up as she launched into the story of her day so far, starting just over two hours ago when she jumped out of bed, ready to take on the world. She told us about all of the people she met at tryouts, sparing no details. She explained most of the rules of the game of Quidditch (which we already knew). And she gave us a play-by-play of the rainy tryouts and how she won the winning shot, throwing the quaffle through the center ring.

Sanders and I were always entertained by her stories, so much so that we lost track of time. One of the prefects piped up over the last details of Lanie's story to ask if we were going to Care of Magical Creatures in the Forbidden Forest, and if so that we had better be going.

Lanie, one of the promptest people in our year, practically leaped off the sofa. "I'm not dressed! I will be right back!" And that was the first time we were late to class because of Lanie.


	6. Hamlet the Hippogriff

SIRENA

Golden eyes stared back into mine, inches from my face. I could feel his breath on my cheeks, warm and calm. Most Slytherins had a hard time with the magical creatures Professor Hagrid brought in, but the Hippogriff had let me approach him and even get close enough to stroke his beak, across his face, and down his neck.

I felt Hagrid approach me from the side, softly so he didn't disturb the creature. "That's the fastest I've ever seen Hamlet take to someone." Hagrid extended his hand out to offer his scent. "That's a good boy. There ya go."

I let Hagrid take over as I backed away to join my friends. Pisces had a strange look on her face as she stared up the hill that led back to the castle. "Someone important is coming down that hill."

"Anything more specific, Psychic Pisces?" Kyron squinted in the same direction as her, mocking her. "Like, should I be on my best behavior or not?"

Pisces chuckled, looking back at us. "I don't know, but can't you guys feel that?"

We shook our heads to say no, but as we looked up again, three figures, came sprinting down the hill. One a little faster than the other two.


	7. Something Spooky This Way Comes

GRANGER

We sprinted to the bottom of the hill, Sanders and I barely keeping up with Lanie. She slowed to a walk as I jogged up next to her. Sanders was not paying attention and nearly knocked us all down when he ran into us.

"Sorry guys," he said, panting and putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. When he stood back up, he glanced over our shoulders and jumped.

I turned around, looking for what spooked him and noticed a Slytherin girl staring us down. She had white hair and dark skin, except a patch of white across the right side of her face. She was gorgeous, but her eyes followed us as we came closer to the class. Suddenly, as if she had snapped out of trance, she shook her head and turned away from us, giving her friends a smile. It was like nothing had happened, and that was almost worse.


	8. Slytherins Partner Up

SIRENA

"Okay, everyone. Let's gather round." Professor Hagrid gestured with his large hands for everyone to move closer to him and the animals. "Now that we have all had a chance to get used to the Hippogriffs and for the Hippogriffs to get used to you, it's time we gave them T-R-E-E-T-S for bein so good. Be careful not to get too close to them when they eat; they are wild animals and they will think your hand is just another S-N-A-K. Everyone needs to couple up, one person to hold the bucket, the other to toss. And before you start pickin' your best friends, let's mix things up a bit and have each couple be one Hufflepuff and one Slytherin. If you think you can handle that, get on with it."

I looked at Pi and Ky as we all had the same thought, and we walked toward the group of tardy Puffs. Pi was staring intently at the chubby boy, her way of claiming him as her partner – he looked appropriately frightened. I started to ask the girl to be my partner, but she seemed too eager so I pawned her off on Ky. He gladly took the challenge to wear down a cheerful Hufflepuff, while I sized up the last of the three.

I remembered this boy from the sorting ceremony last year. He had grown at least a foot since then, but otherwise he looked the same.

"Hi, Granger Jenkins, right?" I asked. How could I forget the first Granger to go to Hufflepuff and the guess to seal my winnings in the Sorting Hat gambling game. "I'm Sirena Dayton, but my friends call me Si. You can call me Sirena for now, let's see how this class goes."

"Funny. I'll go get the bucket." For a Hufflepuff, he wasn't overly friendly like the girl or easily intimidated like the boy. This kid was different. And I liked that.


	9. Hufflepuff Partners Up

GRANGER

Three Slytherins approached us as Hagrid finished his instructions.

The spooky girl from before bounced over to Sanders, who looked like he was ready to pass out. The other girl, the shortest of the three of them, started to talk to Lanie and looked almost as bad as Sanders when she realized what that would be like for an entire class. She switched with the 'quiet tall guy in the back' and turned to me, the last pick.

"Hi, Granger Jenkins, right?" She smiled at me, studying my face. Her wavy brown hair blew around her as the wind picked up.

_Yeah, that's right. How did you know?_ I thought, but the words didn't come out.

"I'm Sirena Dayton, but my friends call me Si." I noticed a splatter of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

_Say something, I am begging you. _Still, nothing.

"You can call me Sirena for now, let's see how this class goes." She chuckled, and her laugh woke me from the trance I was under.

I tried to laugh, to tell her I thought she was funny. But all that came out was: "Funny." No laughter, not even a smile. It was like I couldn't behave like a normal human being. "I'll go get the bucket."

_Smooth, man. Smooth._


End file.
